Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Philip's Commentary On

Inherit the Wind
by Jerome Lawrence
and Robert E. Lee

 

TimeLine

Circa 1000 B.C.     The Genesis 2 (Adam and Eve) creation story is written
Circa 560 B.C.       The Genesis 1 (Six Day) creation story is written
1859                         Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin, is published in London.
1871                         Charles Darwin publishes The Descent of Man. 
March 1925            Butler Act prohibits teaching of evolution in Tennessee public schools. 
July  1925               John Scopes is convicted of violating Butler Act.
1927                         The Tennessee Supreme Court overturns the conviction of John Scopes. 
1955                         Inherit the Wind opens on Broadway. 
1967                         Tennessee repeals the Butler Act.
1999                         Kansas Board of Education removes evolution from science teaching standards.
January 2008         Thespians read Inherit the Wind

• When: Monday, January 14 & Tuesday, January 22, at  7 pm
• Where:  Room 9
• What: Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
• Who: UUCPA Thespians
• Why: To read a gripping drama as pertinent today as it was 53 years ago.

From the author’s introduction (written in 1955):
INHERIT THE WIND is not history.  The events which took place in Dayton, Tennessee, during the scorching July of 1925 are clearly the genesis of this play.  It has, however, an exodus entirely its own.

          Only a handful of phrases have been taken from the actual transcript of the famous Scopes trial.  Some of the characters of the play are related to the colorful figures in the battle of giants; but they have life and language of their own – and, therefore, names of their own.

          The collision of Bryan and Darrow at Dayton was dramatic, but it was not a drama.  Moreover, the issues of their conflict have acquired new dimensions and meaning in the years since they clashed at the Rhea County Courthouse.  So INHERIT THE WIND does not pretend to be journalism.  It is theatre.  It is not 1925.  The stage directions set the time as “Not too long ago.”  It might have been yesterday.  It could be tomorrow.

          This play will probably read best with about 8 or 9 of us, but there are lots of minor parts, so any number will have something to read.  Let me know which evening you’ll come, and we’ll try to keep it balanced.  Make a reservation (email thespians-info@uucpa.org or call me) - or you can just show up at seven o’clock prompt on January 14 or 22.

Philip Hodge, Chair.